Combined loader and trimmer



No. 750,865. PATENTED FEB.2,-1904. J. J. LAMB & J. M. ADAMS. COMBINEDLOADER AND TRIMMER.

APPLIUATION TILED SEPT. 28, 1903.

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VIII/III IHi1 ll l J'lllorgzys PATBNTED FEB. 2, 1904.

J. J. LAMB & J. M. ADAMS. COMBINED LOADER AND TRIMMER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2a, 1903.

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I J0 1 {2/ 5 M 5- a o 1 M Wxigzsszs .7.1 16 W by C @Alfovgc ys PatentedFebruary 2, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN JAY LAMB AND JAMES M. ADAMS, OF GALVESTON, TEXAS.

COMBINED LOADEFi AND TRIMMER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. "750,865 dated February2, 1904.

Application filed September 28, 1903. Serial No. 174,974. (No model.)

. To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, J OHN JAY LAMB and JAMES M. ADAus,citizens of theUnited States, residing at Galveston, in the county of Galveston andState of Texas, have invented a new and useful Combined Loader andTrimmer, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a combined loader and trimmer for use inloading grain or other material of similar character into the holds ofvessels, storage-bins, or cars.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved form of mechanismfor loading grain or other materials into the holds of vessels orbin-cars in such manner that the load will be evenly distributedthroughout the hold of the vessel or trimmed to prevent disturbing theequilibrium of the vessel and also obviate excess strain at any point.

A special object of the invention is to provide an improved device ofthe character specified which may be suspended from a ships fall or froma beam, rafter, or other convenient support, as circumstances maydemand, and may be readily shifted in position or raised and lowered toeffect the uniform distribution of the material throughout the space inwhich it is to be deposited.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device fordistributing grain or other material in which the driving mechanism ispositively and directly associated with the shaft of the distributingmechanism, so that the distributing mechanism and driving mechanism forma unitary structure and may be moved about within the space to be filledand raised or lowered, as circumstances require.

\Vith the object above mentioned in view and others which will appearwhen the invention is more fully disclosed the same consists in theconstruction and arrangement of parts of a combined loader and trimmer,hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings,and having the novel features thereof specifically pointed out in theappended claims, it being understood that various changes in theconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of theinvention or sacrificing its advantages.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the completedevice suspended from a fall on a ship within the hold thereof, parts ofthe suspending-chains being broken away to save space. Fig. 2 is a viewin vertical section through the loader and trimmer with thefeeding-hopper broken away. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device with thetop of the casing and the hopper removed. Fig. 4. is a reverse planView, and Fig. 5 is a view of the device with a modified form of hopperto adapt it for suspension in a vertical plane.

Referring to the drawings, in which corresponding parts are designatedby similar characters of reference throughout, F designates the fall ofa ships tackle, provided near the end with an eye for the reception of ahook 1, swiveled at the upper end of chains 2. The chains 2 areconnected at their lower ends with hooks 8, bolted to the outer Wall 4:of a circular casing having an open bottom and a top 5 sloping graduallyoutward from the bottom of a hopper 6 and secured upon the casing-wall 4by means of bolts 7 The casingwall will preferably be formed in sectionssecured together in any suitable manner and will have at one side achute 8, having a wall 9 extending tangentially from one end of thecasing-wall and having the other wall 10 disposed substantially normalto the casing-wall. Within the casing there is arranged a shaft 11,which is mounted to rotate in bearings 12, supported upon a spider-frame13, bolted to the under side of the open-bottom casing. The shaft 11 issecured in position by means of a collar 14, attached thereto by aset-screw 15 or other suitable means and extends upward into the casingalmost to the top of the side wall 4. The shaft 11 extends below thespider to a sufficient distance to permit the attachment thereto of therotative elements of a motor 16, preferably driven by electricity, andhaving the casing thereof rigidly attached to the spider in any suitablemanner. Upon the upper end of the shaft 11 there is secured a sleeve 17,adjusted in position by means of clamping-screws 18, which also serve tohold the sleeve in rigid association with the shaft.

The sleeve 17 has at the lower end an outwardly-disposed flange 19, towhich is bolted a circular plate. or disk 20 of such diameter.

that its periphery lies just out of contact with the casing-wall, sothat the disk serves in lieu of a bottom for the casing. The disk 20 hasupon the upper surface thereofa plurality of radially-arranged blades orfans 21,- which may be formed integral therewith or may be rivetedthereto, as shown. The blades 21 are spaced at equal intervals, aremounted on radial lines, and in this instance are eight in number. Theirouter ends are so disposed as to barely escape contact with the innersurface of the casing-wall 4, and their inner ends are disposed beneaththe line of juncture of the feeding-hopper 6 and the top 5 of thecasing.

In operating the device as above described power will be imparted to theshaft from the motor and grain or any other material of suitablecharacter to be distributed by means of the apparatus will be feddownward through the hopper 6 from any suitable apparatus, as a spout25. The rotation of the disk, with the blades or fans thereon, willthrow the grain or other material outward through the chute 8, and byregulating the power of the motor the distance to which the materialwill be projected from the apparatus may be varied from any desiredminimum up to seventy-five feet or'more.

By turning the device within the hold of the vessel the chute may bedirected toward all the different parts of the hold successively and thegrain or other material uniformly distributed within the space to befilled.

As the material passes downward through the hopper and descends into thecasing it will fall first upon the disk adjacent to the center and willthen be impelled outward by the centrifugal action of the rotating diskand the pressure from above of the material, passing downward throughthe hopper. This will bring the material into the space between theblades or fans and will cause it to acquire the rotary velocity of thedisk, so that it may be impelled outward through the chute at anydesired speed.

In order to effect even distribution within an irregular space, thespeed of the motor may be varied as the casing is turned to direct thechute toward portions of the space near to or remote from the point ofsupport, or the apparatus may be suspended upon an arm arranged to swingwithin the space to be filled and may be moved about within the space toadapted for suspension in a vertical plane by means of an eye 26,arranged opposite the 7 point of attachment of the chute-wall 9 to thecasing-wall 4 and adapted for engagement with a hook on any suitablesupport.

In both forms of the invention the ends of the blades or fans arebrought as close as possible to the inner surface of the casing-wall,and in the preferred form of the invention the absence of a bottombeneath the disk 20 prevents the possibility of grinding the grain orother material upon the bottom of the apparatus.

Having thus described the construction and operation of our invention,what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. The combination in apparatus of the class described, of a suspendedcasing, a shaft rotatably mounted within the casing and having one endextending outside of the casing, a fan rigidly mounted on the shaftwithin the casing, a chute for the escape of material from the casing,and a motor supported beneath the casing and directly connected with theshaft.

2. The combination in apparatus of the class described, of a casing, ashaft mounted for rotation within the casing and having one endprojecting outside thereof, a fan comprising a disk rigidly attached tosaid shaft, and a plurality of plates mounted on said disk and havingtheir outer ends adjacent to the casingwall and their inner ends at somedistance from the center of the casing, and means for rotating saidshaft. I

3. The combination with a suspended casing, of a spider-frame rigidlymounted on the exterior of said casing, a shaft rotatably mounted insaid spider-frame and having one end disposed within the casing and theother disposed external thereto, a fan rigidly mounted on the end of theshaft within the casing, a chute for the discharge of material from thecasing, and a motor supported beneath the casing and directly connectedwith the shaft.

4. The combination in apparatus of the class described, of afreely-swinging supportingframe, a shaft journaled therein, adistributing mechanism mounted on said shaft and comprising a diskrigidly secured to the shaft,

and a plurality of blades mounted on the disk, and a motor supportedbeneath the frame and rigidly connected with the shaft.

5. The combination in apparatus of the class described, of afreely-swinging supportingframe, a shaft journaled therein, adistributing mechanism rigidly mounted on one end of the shaft and amotor supported beneath the frame and directly connected with the otherend of the shaft.

6. The combination in apparatus of the class described, of anopen-bottom casing, a shaft supported in said casing and having one endprojecting outside the casing, a chute for the escape of material fromthe casing, a disk rigidly mounted on said shaft and having itsperiphery disposed so as to barely escape contact with the inner wall ofsaid casing, blades arranged upon said disk, and means for driving saidshaft.

7. The combination in apparatus of the class described, of anopen-bottom casing, a shaft rotatably supported Within said casing,adisk mounted on said shaft at the bottom of said casing and having itsperiphery so disposed as to barely escape contact With said casing-Wall, blades mounted on said casing having their outer ends disposedadjacent to said casing-Wall and their inner ends at a distance from thecenter of said disk, and means for imparting motion to said shaft.

8. The combination in apparatus of the class described, of a casing, adistributer mechanism arranged Within said casing, a hopper to feedmaterial into said casing, amotor directly connected with saiddistributer mechanism, motor-supporting devices mounted on said casing,and means at the periphery of said casing for suspending said casingfrom an overhead support.

9. The combination in apparatus of the class described, of a centrifugaldistributer mechanism, means for imparting rotative movement to saiddistributer mechanism, and means for suspending said distributermechanism from an overhead support for free swinging movement.

10. The combination in apparatus of the class described, of acentrifugal distributer mechanism, means for imparting rotative movementto said distributer mechanism, and swiveled means for suspending saiddistributer mechanism for swinging movement beneath an overhead support.

In testimony that We claim the foregoing as our own We have heretoaflixed our signatures in the presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN JAY LAMB. JAMES M. ADAMS.

Witnesses:

H. L. CHAPMAN, THEO SoHWARzBAoH.

